Blogger Eric A. Morris has set out to dismiss popular misconceptions of L.A.’s transportation system… and by “set out” I mean written a post in the New York Times. A snippet with his challenge here…

(I should also note that per Morris’ bio he’s “a doctoral student in UCLA’s department of urban planning and a researcher at UCLA’s Institute of Transportation Studies.” Yep, another city nerd!)

Exactly one of the following statements about transportation in Los Angeles is indisputably true. Two are (at best) half-truths, and the rest are flat-out myths. Can you figure out which of the following is accurate?

1. Los Angeles’s air is choked with smog.
2. Los Angeles has developed in a low-density, sprawling pattern.
3. Angelenos spend more time stuck in traffic than any other drivers in the nation.
4. Thanks to the great distances between far-flung destinations, and perhaps to Angelenos’ famed “love affair” with the car, Angelenos drive considerably more miles than most Americans.
5. Los Angeles is dominated by an overbuilt freeway system that promotes autodependence.
6. Los Angeles’s mass transit system is underdeveloped and inadequate.

He’ll post what he believes are the answers in the near future at Freakonomics.

I’m refreshingly surprised that Morris didn’t mention the whole “nobody walks in L.A. thing.” But are there any other cliches or myths that he missed?

Related posts:

1. More Than Transportation Weekend
2. 10 Ways to Improve L.A.’s Public Transportation System
3. Woohoo, Public Transportation
4. (Short) Life with an SUV as temporary transportation
5. Holy Transportation Tuesday: Gold Line passes.